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Latest G5 conversion (I could not resist)

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Joined
Feb 28, 2015
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131
Motherboard
MSI Z97M Gaming
CPU
i7 4790K
Graphics
GTX960
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. Mac Pro
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
I was just browsing fleabay the other day when I came across a near perfect condition G5, I could not resist the temptation and got it for £25.50 ( $37 )

I am going to base this latest conversion around the following:

Asus H97M-E
Intel Core i5 4460
16Gb RAM
256Gb SSD (OS X El Capitan)
1Tb spinner (storage)
Apple PCIE WiFi / BT 4.0 card

I am keeping the look of the case as stock as possible apart from the rear where I will use a Laser Hive matx rear plate and motherboard tray. For the front panel I have found a cable that plugs into the front panel connector ready for standard ATX connections. I will convert the existing Apple / ACBell PSU to standard ATX. As the board is matx I will be able to retain the top tray and hard drive cage. I will also retain the Apple pull-out twin 92mm fan unit and install new silent fans. I will also install a hardware chime board to play the Apple sound at start-up.

The build begins, watch this space............
 
Thanks for sharing your latest creation.

Which ATX power supply brand and wattage do you plan to install in the gutted G5 PSU case?

Best'

NZRichard


I've got a good quality 550w PSU here in the workshop so I am going to use that. Even after using stand-offs to space the circuit board away from the case there is still a 10mm gap between the boards heat-sinks and the inside top of the PSU enclosure. The board will be orientated to ensure good airflow over the heat-sinks from the two cooling fans. I will replace the two Apple 60mm fans for a couple of Gelid silent units.

Modifying the PSU in this way allows the re-use of the Apple design twin fan case cooling unit while retaining the look of the inside of the case and the continued use of the clear plastic airflow panel behind the side cover.

I have found that the two 60mm fans provide a more than adequate airflow over the modified interior to provide plenty of cooling. Also the heat dissipated is vented directly out of the rear of the case without having any influence on the temperature of the rest of the case.

As I have said before this modification does require a certain amount of electrical knowledge, dangerous voltages exist inside the PSU and electrical separation must be maintained between the components and the PSU case.

Photos to follow.
 
Here is the finished PSU.

psu2.jpg

The board positioned to ensure good airflow over the heatsinks.

psu1.jpg

The position of the cables as they exit the PSU.

psu3.jpg

Case mods to follow.
 
The Laser Hive kit has arrived so......

Untitled-7.jpg

......it's, Dremel time!

I marked the area to be cut away

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From then it was just a matter of cutting the middle shelf, installing the two new 92mm fans, fitting the Apple chime hardware and the motherboard ETC. I used some cable management trunking to hide the main cable runs which I think turned out well.

Untitled-1.jpg Untitled-2.jpg Untitled-3.jpg


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Just waiting for the Apple WiFi / BT4.0 PCIe card to arrive from the far east.

Now all I need is some help with a Clover/El Cap install
 
Last edited:
So, I've finished the build. I decided to change the graphics card due to problems with the installation of El Capitan. I removed the EVGA GTX 550 Ti and replaced it with an Asus GT 740. I've also installed the Apple WiFi/Bluetooth combo PCIe card and a white nano LED for hard drive activity, this LED is mounted next to the start-up chime board inside the machine, it's bright and can be seen flashing inside the case due to the 'cheese grater' case front.

I had a few problems with graphics output when installing El Cap but with superb help from forum members this was overcome and the system is now running without problems.

An image of the finished rear of the case:

Untitled-1.jpg

Some more images of the finished interior:

Untitled-2.jpg Untitled-3.jpg

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Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 10.25.32.jpg Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 10.25.50.png Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 10.26.33.png

A short video of start-up to desktop. The sound quality is not great but you can hear the chime at power on.

[video=youtube_share;P1r74Qkl8xQ]https://youtu.be/P1r74Qkl8xQ[/video]

This has been an enjoyable and largely easy conversion. The use of an mATX motherboard and the installation of the PSU inside the original housing has meant that most of the interior is unchanged, I was able to re-use the fan mounts, hard drive cage ETC with just the middle tray to shorten. Laser Hive kit meant that motherboard / rear panel was an easy professional looking installation and finding the pre-made wiring kit for the front panel saved a lot of time with the soldering iron. All I had to do was to modify the wiring for the two 92mm front fans so they were still able to be removed easily for cleaning as Apple intended and installation of start-up chime and HDD activity indication hardware.
 
:thumbup: Very nice and clean build, this G5 mod! I like the way you build your PSU unit!

I have 2 G5 cases in my possession. But this build inspires me to build at least 1 hackintosh of them!

I think I will post my progress also on this forum, thanks for showing us this simple but very clean build! :headbang:
 
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